Heretofore bank bags which are usually formed of heavy cloth such as duck or denim for carrying money, currency or the like, have been provided with a seal around the open neck thereof so that access to the interior of the bag or receptacle cannot be attained without breaking the seal, and in this manner, it is immediately apparent whether or not the seal has been tampered with and the interior contents of the bag either removed therefrom or have had some other material which is worthless substituted for the original contents of the bag.
It has been found that with careful manipulation, the former sealing devices used, which were usually formed of a soft material such as lead which was tightened, or deformed after strings were inserted through the holes therein by a tool to restrain or hold strings in place around the neck of the bag, and which has teeth or points which would dig into the bag so that removal of the seal was difficult, did not always serve their intended purpose and were expensive. One reason they were unsatisfactory was that persons with sufficient patience and strength could carefully manipulate the seal so that it could be removed from the bag and the contents thereof either pilfered or changed and the seal could then be carefully replaced around the neck of the open end of the bag with no readily visible indication that the seal had been tampered with. In bank bags, this is a decided disadvantage because such bags at times contain material placed therein with the seal thereon which are not opened for some considerable period of time, and if pilferage or substitution is not discovered immediately, it is difficult to trace the person or persons who may have tampered with the bag or to determine when or where the tampering took place.
Furthermore, such seals were usually formed of materials which are relatively expensive, such as lead, for example, and required a special tool to secure them on the bag after the contents were placed therein.
The present invention provides a very inexpensive and foolproof sealing device for bank bags and the like which cannot be removed from the bag without tearing or mutilating the bag material, whereby it is immediately apparent that the bag has been tampered with and the seal has been removed. The purpose also is to provide a seal of the type described wherein the only manner in which the seal may be removed from the bag is by cutting or severing the same with a cutting tool or otherwise the visual appearance of the bag is such that it will be immediately apparent that the seal was improperly removed and attempted to be replaced although this is quite difficult to do without further mutilating or tearing the bag material. It is also an object of the invention to provide a bag seal which is inexpensive and may be manufactured in large quantities very cheaply from metal stampings or molded plastic strips. Furthermore, to provide a configuration which may be tightly secured to the bag by a person utilizing a simple and inexpensive tool which requires very little strength or force to effect an extremely tight and foolproof seal.
Applicant knows of no other prior art with respect to sealing devices for bank bags and the like other than the deformable lead seal utilized with the cord as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings of the present application.